Ahara

I started to get dizzy from the shock and I reached my hand out to steady myself by grabbing a nearby branch. My hand was too shaky and my eyes were blurry from the tears swelling up. I missed the branch and stumbled out of the tree. As I fell and struck the floor, I could feel all of the air in my lungs exit my body all at once. “Who goes there?” yelled the Aantari soldier as he and another woman carried out master Wei’s still lifeless body from the house. Not wanting to get caught, I hid behind the trees to avoid being seen. 

“Must have been an animal” said the other soldier, they continued to bury Wei’s body beside the house as I remained motionless behind the large oak tree, like a vast cold stone placed upon the top of a windy desolate mountain. I sat there, motionless, trying to bring the lost air back into my lungs and process what I had just witnessed. Were those the soldiers I met in the market? Did I talk to murderers? I thought to myself. The questions pounded through my head. “Get a grip Ahara” I breathed. I reached for my dagger still strapped onto my leg. I took my hand away to check for tears, but nothing. I gathered up the rest of my courage and carefully peaked at the soldiers and examined them for a while. There seemed to be quite a few of them. There were about ten or twelve. I decided to wait till they leave so I could further examine the scene at a closer distance. 

Tears finally started to fall down my face and I just couldn't manage to stop them, they just kept sweeping down my face uncontrollably. “No,” I sobbed, pounding at my chest. I felt a kind of pain in my chest that I've never felt before, it wasn't physical pain but it hurt just as much as getting stabbed in the chest.

The sun had gone down probably around forty minutes ago but I continued to sit under the giant tree, watching the leaves rustle and blow away in the wind. At this point, I think I was just procrastinating so I wouldn’t have to go see Master Wei’s grave and the house where he had been murdered. But I knew that I had to go take a look, slowly lifting myself. I used the trees to help keep me steady and made my way to the house. The neighbourhood had cleared out as soon as the imperial soldiers arrived so it was basically like a ghost town now. I walked up to the front porch and slowly opened the door, as the door creaked open I noticed that the place was a mess. Books, papers, and lamps were all scattered on the floor. I picked up some things and placed them back where I last saw them. As I cleaned under the bed, I saw a long rectangular box, which was addressed to me. I pulled it from underneath the bed and opened it. Inside of it was a small note.

“Hello my dear Ahara,

If you are reading this, that would, unfortunately, mean I’m dead. But that's okay because I knew that this path was inevitable the day I took you home from the orphanage, remember that? You were just five years old. You had a big smile on your face and the most beautiful emerald green eyes in the entire world. From the first second I met you, I realized that there was something about you that made you special. Not because you are a Zartari citizen living in Aantari or because your name started with an A even though you’re not an Aantari royal. It’s because in the darkest times you always found light and always put others before yourself like when I scolded you when I was sick, you went out and bought me medicine with every penny you had. Or when you rode your bike into a tree and then asked if it was ok. 

I took you home and raised you like my own daughter and also trained you as a warrior. You always asked me why I trained you so hard, and I even got mad at you for skipping your training. Well, it’s all because I knew there would be a time like this. Where you would have to fend for yourself and face many challenges. 

There are some items I left in the box along with this note. A necklace from your birth family and a sword that has been passed down for generations in my family. Now I am passing it down to you, my daughter Ahara. Remember to always keep your head up and reach for the stars, and I might just reach back, joke right? Anyway take care of yourself Ahara, and I’ll always be watching over you from the heavens. I’ll even send you a shooting star from time to time.”

• Alexander Wei

A warm teardrop trickled down my cheek. I looked up to stop the rest of the tears from bursting out and hastily wiped my cheek with the back of my hand, “Master Wei, why did it have to come to this? How could the royals have possibly found out about this?” 

It didn’t matter, because either way, I was going to kill whoever was behind this.

I found the necklace in the box, A necklace from your birth family. Quickly, I tied the necklace around my neck. Then, reached into the box and pulled out a golden tinted sword with an emerald right on the quillon block of the sword with a black leather grip. While putting on my cloak and strapping the sword to my back, I heard a noise coming from outside. I dropped to the ground and peered out the broken window to find a female Aantari soldier securing the premises. She seemed very clumsy and confused about what she was doing. Most likely a new soldier. I could kill her and take her armour, but is killing her necessary? I shook the voice from my head and focused back on the lingering soldier.  The guard turned her head to check out a noise that came from behind the bushes, trembling as she slowly took a step. I charged at her and swept my legs under hers causing her to fall to the ground. Grabbing the soldier I pinned her to a wall and drew my sword pointing it right at the bottom of her chin. “What are you doing here?” I asked her.

“I-I’m just here to make sure that everything is cleaned up”

“Why did you kill that man and who ordered you to kill him?” 

“Please, I can’t tell you that. It’s classified information.” I chuckled and dragged the tip of my blade along her throat creating a little slit. I watched as the thick red liquid slowly trickled down and onto the tip of my blade.

“O-Ok! Ok, I’ll talk. We were told to kill Alexander Wei because the royals found out that he brought a Zartari soldier to our lands. We suspect him to be a middle-aged male since all soldiers in Zartari are male.”

“Alright thank you kindly”, taking the sword down from her delicate throat, “ now was that so hard?”

“I’ve told you everything I know, now will you let me go?”

“I’m afraid I can't do that, who knows what you’ll do once I let you go” my hand was swift and the sword made a clean deep slice right across her throat. I took a cloth and wiped my blood-stained sword. I was horrifyingly satisfied with my movements as my deep emerald eyes glistened in the shawning moonlight. She fell to her knees as she grabbed her neck trying to stop the bleeding while choking and gurgling, begging me to save her. “I’m sorry, orders are orders, right?” A few moments later the woman stopped moving and her hand dropped to the ground. This time with a frown, I gently lifted my hand to close her blank lifeless eyes “rest at ease, soldier.” I whispered. This armour should be able to fit me. I took the armour off of the women and swiftly changed into them. Patting down the armour and clothes under it, I realized that I would need some sort of proof that I was accepted into the royal troops of Aantari. I checked the pockets of the armour, hoping to find anything useful. My hand brushed up against a bump underneath the chest plate, I off the top half of my armour from my sweat-soaked shirt, then ran my fingers along the side of leather of the steal, there was a very small slit in between the leather and the plate, probably caused by the newby soldier to hide something. I carefully reached into the slit to find a folded piece of paper. The paper had the royal seal on it, I hopingly opened the paper and read it. 

“You have been accepted to be an Imperial Soldier to serve for the Aantari Royal family -Prince Asher”

I let out a sigh of relief, I couldn’t believe that this soldier would carry something this important on her person. A card slipped out from the note and landed on the floor, I picked it up and flipped it over. It was an I.D., “Hailey Mills” I read. That would be the soldier's name, I would have to figure out an excuse for why I didn’t have an I.D. but first things first, I would have to find the troops. As I prepared to leave, glancing back at the limp body my eyes then trailed to the shed beside the house. I grabbed a shovel and dug a hole, gently placing her inside of it. Using the shovel I pushed the dirt back into the hole and then turned to leave with my sword in hand. Now began my journey to the Aantari royal palace.